Smoking pipe cartridge production apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the production of a cartridge of smoking tobacco for a smoking pipe, the apparatus consisting of a mold member defining a cylindrical chamber with a cylindrical plunger adapted for insertion therein for compression of cut pieces of tobacco, each of the members having a central axial opening for receiving and supporting the ends of a core piece while tobacco is pressed in the mold member around the core piece.

United States Patent [1 1 Roman, Sr.

[76] Inventor: Michael A. Roman, Sr., South Nyack, N.Y.

22 Filed: Jan. 20, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 219,441

[52] US. Cl. 131/119, 131/3 Oct. 23, 1973 824,552 6/1906 Licey 13l/3FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 175,513 2/1922 Great Britain 131/3 6240/1909 Great Britain..... 131/111 0/1914 Great Britain 131/111 PrimaryExaminer-Joseph S. Reich Att0rneyCurtis Ailes [57] ABSTRACT Apparatusfor the production of a cartridge of smoking tobacco for a smoking pipe,the apparatus consisting of a mold member defining a cylindrical chamberwith a cylindrical plunger adapted for insertion therein for compressionof cut pieces of tobacco, each of the members having a central axialopening for receiving and supporting the ends of a core piece whiletobacco is pressed in the mold member around the core piece.

3Claims, 7 Drawing Figures [51] Int. Cl. A24b 13/00, A24d 1/14 [58}Field of Search ..131/3, 5,111,119

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 584,322 6/1897 Bryson 131/5200,202 2/1878 Kinney 131/119 1,058,611 4/1913 Lowman 131/111 1,072,9149/1913 Comings... 131/3, 981,252 1/1911 Falk 131/3 X 38,052 3/1863Mallet 131/3 l I I 2 8 PATENIEnncI 23 ms SHEET 10F 2 F/GLZ PATENTED MI23 I913 SHEET 2 OF 2 SMOKING PIPE CARTRIDGE PRODUCTION APPARATUS Thepresent invention relates to an improved cartridge of precompressed pipetobacco which is adapted for quick and easy insertion into a smokingpipe.

In the usual method of pipe smoking, the smoker uses his fingers tostuff and compress loose pipe tobacco into the pipe bowl. This can be amessy procedure since it often leads to spilled tobacco and a consequentlossv of tobacco. Furthermore, if the tobacco is packed too tightly, itdoes not draw" well and takes an uncomfortable amount of suction by thesmoker to light it and to maintain it in the lighted condition. On theother hand, if the tobacco is packed too loosely, the burning tends toproceed too rapidly to the bottom of the bowl, providing a smoke whichis too short and hot, and leaving unburned tobacco along the sides ofthe: bowl. Retamping of the partially burned charge then causes burntfingertips and possible hot ash spills.

Another disadvantage of the present system of hand tamping of loosetobacco into the pipe is that the tobacco in the very bottom of the bowlis exposed to a possible back flow of saliva from the mouth of thesmoker which forms a hard saliva soaked cake which does not burn andwhich makes cleaning of the pipe difficult. Still another problemencountered with the normal method of loading a pipe is that the properloading of the pipe takes a considerable period of time during which oneor both hands of the smoker are completely occupied with the pipeloading task. This makes it difficult to combine loading of the pipewith other common activities such as driving an automobile.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide aprecompressed cartridge of pipe tobacco which has substantially theright degree of compression and which is easily, quickly, andconveniently inserted into the pipe bowl by the smoker.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cartridge of pipetobacco which is shaped so as to avoid the salivasoaked and unburnableheel of tobacco in the bottom of the pipe, thus avoiding the consequentwaste of tobacco and difficulty in cleaning of the pipe.

In fabricating a cartridge of tobacco for a smoking pipe, it is aproblem to control, within sufficiently narrow limits, exactly how muchcompression to use to avoid having the Cartridge become too dense andimpervious to air for easy draw. Furthermore, there is a definite upperlimit to the amount of tobacco which can be incorporated into thecartridge and to the amount of pressure which can be employed in formingthe cartridge because of the necessity for maintaining sufficientporosity to permit easy draw.

Prior attempts at producing a preformed cartridge of pipe tobacco haveinvolved strong measures to get the particles of tobacco forming thecartridge to hold together. In some instances, non-removable wrappershave been employed, and in other instances adhesive binding materialshave been added to the tobacco to cause the particles to stick together.However, it has been one of the discoveries of the present inventionthat normal pipe mixtureswill hold together and will form a cohesivecartridge without permanent wrappers and without added adhesivematerials provided sufficient pressure is employed in the formation ofthe cartridge. However, it has been discovered that ifa high pressure isused, ease of draw is substantially impaired.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to avoidall of the above problemsjand to permit a very high forming pressure anda very' high density in a tobacco cartridge which iscohesive andsclfsustaining, while at the same time maintaining ease of draw. 7

It is one of the features of the present invention that case of draw isobtained by providing for a central opening through the cartridgethrough which air may be drawn. However, it has been discovered thatwith high compression pressures, if a mandrel which is used to form acentral opening in the cartridge is removed for any substantial periodbefore the cartridge is actually used by the smoker, the body of thetobacco cartridge tends to move in and fill the central opening so as tosubstantially impair the effectiveness of the central opening as an airpassage.

Accordingly, it is still another object of the present invention toprovide an improved pipe tobacco cartridge having provisions for formingthe central opening just before use by the smoker.

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus which isespecially adapted for production of a cartridge of pipe tobacco asdescribed above.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a cartridge for asmoking pipe comprising a quantity of cut pieces of tobacco compressedinto a cohesive cylindrical body having substantially flat ends, and aremovable core piece having a smooth non-adherent surface extendingaxially entirely through said cylindrical body and protruding for asubstantial dlimension beyond at least one axial end thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a cartridge of pipe tobacco inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view illustrating the mode of insertion ofthe cartridge of FIG. 1 into a pipe.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view illustrating the appearance of thecartridge of pipe tobacco after insertion into the pipe and in readinessfor smoking.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view illustrating the plunger member of anapparatus in accordance with the invention for the production of acartridge such as that shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side view, partially in section, illustrating the moldmember of an apparatus in accordance with the invention for theproduction of a cartridge such as that shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view illustrating the mode of operation ofthe apparatus including theplunger of FIG. 4 and the mold member of FIG.5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a funnel device which is usable forassisting in filling the mold member of FIG. 5.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, the cartridge consists preferablyof a cylinder 10 of tightly compacted pipe tobacco having embedded inits center axial portion a core member 12. The entire cartridge 10,including the core 12, is preferably completely enclosed in amoisture-proof wrapper 14 which may be composed of a plastic film, ormetal foil. The ends of the cylinder are preferably flat andsquare. Thisis particularly true of the lower end 13.

The core 12 is preferably composed of a material which is inexpensive,which will not absorb an appreciable amount of moisture from the tobaccoof the body 10, and which is easily withdrawn from the tobacco body 10.The core 12 may preferably consist of a thin cylinder of cellulosicmaterial such as paper. The paper core 12 is preferably impregnated, orat least coated on its outer surface, with a moisture-resistant plasticwhich also makes the outer surface smooth and slippery to promote easeof withdrawal of the core from the tobacco body 10. However, variousalternatives are available, including forming the core 12 entirely ofplastic.

The tobacco body is preferably compacted at a considerable pressurewhich is preferably somewhat higher than the pressure normally attainedby a smoker in loosely compacting tobacco into his pipe bowl. Thus, moretobacco is incorporated into the cylindrical body 10 of the cartridge 10than would normally be expected considering the actual dimensions of thecartridge. The dimensions of the cartridge may be selected to fit thebowl of a typical smoking pipe. While the dimensions of pipe bowls varysomewhat in size, a cartridge dimension of about one inch in length, andfive-eighths to three-quarters of an inch in diameter has been found tobe quite satisfactory for a number of pipes.

FIG. 2 illustrates the cartridge 10 of FIG. 1 with th outer wrapper 14removed and in the position in which insertion of the cartridge into apipe 16 is commenced. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the inner walls of apipe bowl, such as shown at 18 and 20 of pipe 16, are usually taperedslightly inwardly towards the bottom to provide a wedging action topromote the compaction of the tobacco in the bowl. With the cartridge ofthe present invention, the entire cartridge 10 is forcibly pushedtowards the bottom of the bowl to a position as indicated in FIG. 3. Theouter diameter of the cartridge 10 is selected so as to be slightlygreater than the inside diameter of the bowl in the lower portionsthereof. Thus, the cartridge is firmly wedged into the pipe bowl and thebottom portion of the cartridge is under substantial additional radialcompression by reason of the wedging.

FIG. 3 illustrates the cartridge 10 after it is pressed into the pipebowl to the proper level. After the cartridge is in this position, theupper end of the core member 12 is firmly grasped by the user and pulledupwardly and out of the cartridge 10, while at the same time placingpressure on the top of the'upper'cartridge surface to keep the cartridgesnugly in the bowl. The removal of the core leaves a central passage 22through the cartridge 10 which permits air to be drawn easily throughthe bowl and through the stem of the pipe by the smoker, despite thefact that the tobacco of the cartridge is compressed very tightly.

It has been observed that because the tobacco near the core of thecartridge body 10 remains under compression, as soon as the core 12 isremoved, the tobacco tends to expand into the central core passage 22,thus tending to partially block off that passage. This effect isaccentuated by the radial compression imposed by wedging the cartridgeinto the pipe bowl. It is recommended however that the user immediatelylight the pipe, and it has been found that if the pipe is lighted withina reasonably short period after removal of the core, the expansion ofthe tobacco into the central passage 22 is not so great as to seriouslyobstruct the passage. However, it is because of the tendency of thecompacted tobacco to expand into the central passage 22 that it isregarded as essential that the core 12 re main in the cartridge whilethe cartridge is inserted into the pipe, and preferably until justbefore the pipe is lighted.

It has been found that by following this teaching of the presentinvention, it is possible to compact the tobacco in the cartridge 10 toa much greater degree than would otherwise be possible. This high degreeof compaction has a number of advantages. For one, a larger amount oftobacco may be placed in the pipe in a single charge so that a longersmoke can be enjoyed without the necessity for continually refilling thepipe. Another advantage is that with a high compaction, it has beenfound that self cohesive cartridges can be assembled using standard pipetobacco brands, without the necessity for the addition of specialadhesive materials to keep the particles of tobacco together in a cakedform.

For achieving the purposes of this invention, and the advantagesenumerated above, it-has been found that a minimum compaction pressurefor obtaining reasonable cohesion of the tobacco particles with normalpipe tobacco moisture content is about 18 pounds per square inch exertedon the axial end of the cartridge. From a practical standpoint, no uppermaximum limit of pressure has been determined up to the present time.However, a very satisfactory pressure has been found to be in theorderof 20 pounds per square inch. With higher pressures, the tobaccotends to expand more into the central air passage after withdrawal ofthe core, reducing the draw. Once the pipe is lighted, the actualburning of tobacco proceeds rather rapidly through the central airpassage 22, tending to at least partially enlarge that passage so thatthe pipe draws very easily, even though the tobacco may be compressedvery tightly. It has been found that the burning I of the tobacco thenproceeds rather evenly radially outwardly from the central passage 22 sothat substantially all of the tobacco of the cartridge is ultimatelyconsumed.

While it has been stated above that it has been discovered that it ispossible to make cohesive cartridges in accordance with the presentinvention without the need for the addition of materials to promoteadhesion and cohesion, it will be understood that it is not necessarilybeyond the scope of this invention to form such cartridges withadditions of material to promote cohesion and adhesion of the particles.

The cartridge 10 is preferably formed with flat, squared ends.Particularly the bottom end 13 of the cartridge is preferably flat anddefines a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of the cartridgecorresponding to the position of the core 12 and the resulting airpassage 22. Thus, when the cartridge is wedged into the pipe bowl, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the bottom 13 of the tobacco of the cartridge 10does not extend into the curved bottom of the bowl, leaving an emptychamber 24 in the bottom of the bowl. This chamber 24 occupies theposition where the hard heel" of tobacco is often formed with normalloading of the pipe. However, using the cartridge 10, the formation ofthe hardened tobacco heel is avoided, and substantially the entiretobacco cartridge is ultimately consumed by burning, affording fullpleasure to the smoker without substantially waste of tobacco in anunburnable heel. Furthermore, substantially complete burning of thetobacco, substantially without heel formation, greatly simplifies thesubsequent cleaning of the pipe. Only the ashes of burned tobacco needbe knocked from the pipe bowl for a virtually complete cleaning action.

The cartridge in accordance with the present invention may be formed inan apparatus as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Referring particularly to FIG. 4, the plunger 26 may consist of a simplehollow cylindrical shell, and may be provided at its top with a plasticsnap-on cover 28. The

plunger preferably includes inner annular walls 30 defining an axialopening extending up through the bottom of the plunger and having adiameter to receive and support the core 12 of a cartridge which isbeing formed. The interior of the plunger 26 may be employed for thestorage of fresh cores l2 and also wrapping sheets of moisture resistantmaterials such as metal foil. The interior is accessible by unsnappingthe cover 28.

The mold illustrated in FIG. 5 consists basically of a hollowcylindrical body 34 which is open at the top and closed at the bottom.This body includes a raised mold floor indicated at 36 and having acentral opening therein at 38 to receive and position the core member12. The raised floorstructure is also separated at its outside edge fromthe main inner surface of the mold body 34, leaving a circumferentialslot, as indicated at 40, to admit the edges of a sheet ofmoisture-proof wrapping material while the cartridge is being formed.

A hinge 42 is provided on the side of the mold 34 to permit the mold tobe opened for easy and simple removal of the finished and compressedcartridge. In order to permit release of the two halves of the mold 34to swing apart on the hinge 42, a releasable pin 44 is provided on theother side of the mold. The pin 44 and the associated structuralportions of the mold body 34 are very similar to the hinge 42 exceptthat the pin 44 can be simply removed by drawing the pin upwardly. Whenthe mold is to be used again, it is closed and the pin 44 isre-inserted.

FIG. 6 illustrates the method of use of the apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5in forming the cartridge of the present invention. First, themoisture-proof wrapper 14 is placed so that it lines the interior of themold 34 in the position as illustrated in FIG. 6 with the lower edge ofthe wrapper extending down into the outer edge slot 40. The insertion ofthe wrapper can. be accomplished very easily by wrapping it around theexterior cylindrical surface of the plunger 26 and inserting the plungerinto the mold before any tobacco is loaded into the mold. The plunger isthen withdrawn from the mold leaving the wrapper in place. Next, thecore member 12 is inserted into the central opening 38 in the bottom ofthe mold 34. Next, the mold is substantially filled with loose pipetobacco, as shown at 10A. The plunger is then inserted at the top of themold, with the upper tip of the core 12 started into the central opening32 of the plunger. The plunger is then forced downwardly as illustratedin FIG. 6, comressing the tobacco 10A to form the cartridge. It may benecessary to addmore tobacco several times in order to build thecartridge up to the proper height at the desired degree of compression.

After the desired height of the cartridge is built up, the pin 44 isremoved, the cartridge is removed from the mold 34, and the ends of themoisture-proof wrap per 14 are bent over and secured around the ends ofthe cartridge. Before closing the wrapper, the core 12 may be movedupwardly in the cartridge to the position illustrated in FIG. 1, so thatit does not protrude through the bottom of the cartridge. It has beenfound desirable to do this in order to promote ease of wrapping thecartridge. Furthermore, if the core 12 is longer than necessary aftersuch core movement, the upper tip of the core may be clipped off.

It is one of the featuresof the present invention that it has beendiscovered that many of the commercial pipe mixtures of tobacco maybecompacted into cartridges which are so cohesive as to be selfsustaining in accordance with the present invention, without the needfor the addition of any adhesion or cohesion enhancing agents. Forinstance, tobacco mixture brands sold under the following trademarknames have been found to work satisfactorily in accordance with theteachings of this invention:

EDGEWORTH (a trademark of the House of Edgeworth, Richmond, Va.)

MADEIRA MIXTURE (a tradmark of the RJ. Reynolds Tobacco Company) andPRINCE ALBERT (a tradmark of the R]. Reynolds Tobacco Company). I

In order to provide greater ease-in filling the mold 5 with sufficienttobacco to form an acceptable cartridge after the prescribed amount ofcompression, both the mold 34 and the plunger 26 may be increased invertical dimension, thus providing a larger initial volume within themold. Alternatively, the tobacco may be hand tamped into the mold toobtain a reasonable degree of compression before the plunger is insertedinto the mold. In order to make filling more convenient, a funnel deviceas illustrated in FIG. 7 is preferably provided.

FIG. 7 illustrates a funnel device 46 which is flared outwardly at thetop, and which has a minimum inner diameter at 48 generallycorresponding to the inner diameter of the mold 34, which is shown indotted outline in FIG. 7. The lower edge of the funnel 46 includes adownwardly extending flange 50 which positions the funnel over the upperend of the mold 34. By means of this funnel, it is much easier tointroduce the tobacco into the mold without spilling. If desired, theplunger 26 may be inserted into the mold through funnel 46 withoutremoving the funnel 46 from the mold.

While this invention has been shown and described in connection withparticular preferred embodiments, various alterations and modificationswill occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the followingclaims are intended to define the valid scope of this invention over theprior art, and to cover all changes and modifications falling within thetrue spirit and valid scope. of this invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for producing a cartridge of compressed pipe tobacco havinga removable core piece I comprising a mold member defining a.cylindrical chamber,

a cylindrical plunger adapted for insertion into said mold member forcompression of cut pieces of tobacco within said mold member,

each of said members having a central axial opening therein forreceiving and supporting both ends of a core piece for maintaining thecore piece in an axial location within said mold member while tobacco ispressed therein to thereby incorporate the core piece in the finishedcartridge,

said mold member including a circumferential axially extending slot atthe bottom portion of the chamber defined by said mold member to receivethe edge of a sheet of moisture-resistant wrapping material to beinserted in said mold member prior to formation of the cartridge. 2.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mold member includes a sideportion which is hingedly fastened to the remainder of the mold memberand arranged to be opened after formation of the cartridge for easyremoval of the cartridge. 3. Apparatus for producing a cartridge ofcompressed pipe tobacco having a removable core piece comprising corepieces and moisture-proof wrappers.

1. Apparatus for producing a cartridge of compressed pipe tobacco havinga removable core piece comprising a mold member defining a cylindricalchamber, a cylindrical plunger adapted for insertion into said moldmember for compression of cut pieces of tobacco within said mold member,each of said members having a central axial opening therein forreceiving and supporting both ends of a core piece for maintaining thecore piece in an axial location within said mold member while tobacco ispressed therein to thereby incorporate the core piece in the finishedcartridge, said mold member including a circumferential axiallyextending slot at the bottom portion of the chamber defined by said moldmember to receive the edge of a sheet of moisture-resistant wrappingmaterial to be inserted in said mold member prior to formation of thecartridge.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mold memberincludes a side portion which is hingedly fastened to the remainder ofthe mold member and arranged to be opened after formation of thecartridge for easy removal of the cartridge.
 3. Apparatus for producinga cartridge of compressed pipe tobacco having a removable core piececomprising a mold member defining a cylindrical chamber, a cylindricalplunger adapted for insertion into said mold member for compression ofcut pieces of tobacco within said mold member, at least one of saidmembers having a central axial opening therein for receiving andsupporting a core piece in an axial location within said mold memberwhile tobacco is pressed therein to thereby incorporate the core piecein the finished cartridge, said plunger comprising a hollow tubularmember having a removable cap at the upper end thereof, said plungerbeing arranged for the storage of fresh core pieces and moisture-proofwrappers.